you're going to lay people off because now the government is going to help you fund your healthcare. really? i want to have those conversations, not to be confrontational, but to understand what the other side is saying, and i'd like to arm our viewers with the ability to argue with their conservative uncle joe over the dinner table. ♪ >> apparently -- >> announcer: stephanie miller. . >> -- was so devastated by losing homecoming queen she walked into a duncan doughnuts and never came out. >> stephanie: 1-800-steph-1-2 the phone number toll free from anywhere. lots of debate in washington over guns and the debt ceiling. representative peter welch of the great state of vermont joining us. good morning, representative. >> good morning. >> stephanie: i have hope this is going to play out differently. am i misguided. >> well, it's worthy of worry, and i'll tell you why. the republicans used this successfully. we blew it in august when we allowed them to make a link between negotiations and our obligation to pay bills, and it did real damage. we had our first credit downgrade, so they h